Rio Lobo (1970)
Country: US
Technical: col 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O'Neill, Jack Elam, Chris Mitchum
Synopsis:
A retired Union colonel catches up with the traitor from his troop who sold information regarding gold shipments to the Confederates during the war, as well as with the two Confederate soldiers who dealt with him, and whom he since took prisoner and befriended. All get involved with a corrupt sheriff's land-grabbing operations in Texas.
Review:
For all that it is based on a no more likely set of coincidences than this plot summary suggests, the great producer-director's swansong is a freshly paced and topsy-turvy reworking of elements from Rio Bravo and El Dorado, with one or two interesting innovations. Once famously referred to as 'an old man's western', it has a Duke character who is far less cantankerous than usual and more than commonly fond of a drink or two; the violence has a modern full-blooded quality about it, but bonhomie still takes precedence over ill feeling, provided the rules are respected; Hawks provides no less than three glamorous young things, each more than capable of looking after themselves and being sexually emancipated, but two are disfigured for their impertinence! In short, an oddly anachronistic western that nevertheless offers fans copious familiar pleasures.
Country: US
Technical: col 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O'Neill, Jack Elam, Chris Mitchum
Synopsis:
A retired Union colonel catches up with the traitor from his troop who sold information regarding gold shipments to the Confederates during the war, as well as with the two Confederate soldiers who dealt with him, and whom he since took prisoner and befriended. All get involved with a corrupt sheriff's land-grabbing operations in Texas.
Review:
For all that it is based on a no more likely set of coincidences than this plot summary suggests, the great producer-director's swansong is a freshly paced and topsy-turvy reworking of elements from Rio Bravo and El Dorado, with one or two interesting innovations. Once famously referred to as 'an old man's western', it has a Duke character who is far less cantankerous than usual and more than commonly fond of a drink or two; the violence has a modern full-blooded quality about it, but bonhomie still takes precedence over ill feeling, provided the rules are respected; Hawks provides no less than three glamorous young things, each more than capable of looking after themselves and being sexually emancipated, but two are disfigured for their impertinence! In short, an oddly anachronistic western that nevertheless offers fans copious familiar pleasures.
Country: US
Technical: col 114m
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: John Wayne, Jorge Rivero, Jennifer O'Neill, Jack Elam, Chris Mitchum
Synopsis:
A retired Union colonel catches up with the traitor from his troop who sold information regarding gold shipments to the Confederates during the war, as well as with the two Confederate soldiers who dealt with him, and whom he since took prisoner and befriended. All get involved with a corrupt sheriff's land-grabbing operations in Texas.
Review:
For all that it is based on a no more likely set of coincidences than this plot summary suggests, the great producer-director's swansong is a freshly paced and topsy-turvy reworking of elements from Rio Bravo and El Dorado, with one or two interesting innovations. Once famously referred to as 'an old man's western', it has a Duke character who is far less cantankerous than usual and more than commonly fond of a drink or two; the violence has a modern full-blooded quality about it, but bonhomie still takes precedence over ill feeling, provided the rules are respected; Hawks provides no less than three glamorous young things, each more than capable of looking after themselves and being sexually emancipated, but two are disfigured for their impertinence! In short, an oddly anachronistic western that nevertheless offers fans copious familiar pleasures.